SAN JOSE, CA – JANUARY 05: Clelin Ferrell #99 of the Clemson Tigers speaks to the media during the College Football Playoff National Championship Media Day at SAP Center on January 5, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

SAN JOSE, CA – JANUARY 05: Quinnen Williams #92 of the Alabama Crimson Tide speaks to the media during the College Football Playoff National Championship Media Day at SAP Center on January 5, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

FILE – In this Sept. 15, 2018, file photo, Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell (99) rushes into the backfield during the first half of the team’s NCAA college football game against Georgia Southern in Clemson, S.C. Clemsons defensive line came into the season with a ton of hype after Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant and Ferrell all bypassed the chance to go to the NFL after 2017. Ferrell, an explosive pass rusher, has the most NFL upside. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)

FILE – In this Nov. 17, 2018, file photo, Citadel quarterback Brandon Rainey (16) is stopped by Alabama defensive lineman Quinnen Williams (92) as he tries to carry the ball during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Williams is a contender to be the first overall NFL draft pick, held by the Arizona Cardinals. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File)

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SAN JOSE — The Raiders mustered only 13 sacks in 2018, the fewest for any team in a single season since the 2008 Kansas City Chiefs finished with a mere 10.

Everyone and their grandmother knew the Raiders would struggle rushing the passer after they traded Khalil Mack nine days before the season opener, but this bad? As in worst pass-rushing team of the decade? Eleven individuals alone had as many or more sacks than the Raiders as a team this season.

Rookie defensive tackle Maurice Hurst led the Raiders with only four, and he missed the final three games of the season with an ankle injury. In second place with just three was defensive end Bruce Irvin, who the Raiders released before Week 10. Safe to say the Raiders need someone who can wreak havoc in opposing backfields with the fourth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Luckily for Jon Gruden and new general manager Mike Mayock, there seems to be an abundance of capable ones worthy of a top-five selection. Two of them, Clemson defensive end Clelin Ferrell and Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, just so happen to be playing at Levi’s Stadium in the national championship game on Monday if you’re a Raiders fan craving an in-person look at their potential first pick.

Both players and their defensive coordinators spoke on Saturday in San Jose, shedding some light on why they’re regarded so highly in this year’s draft class and how they might fit in the NFL.

What does Clelin Ferrell have to do with embattled former Raider Aldon Smith?

I asked Ferrell the following question: “Do you model your game after any NFL pass rushers?”

At the phrase “NFL,” before the question even finished, he spit out “Aldon Smith.”

Yes, the 29-year-old uber-talented pass rusher who played for the Raiders and 49ers before his career came crashing down due to a litany of off-the-field issues. Ferrell wears No. 99 because of Smith, who caught Ferrell’s eye when he rooted for Smith’s Missouri Tigers as a kid.

“I feel like I can be what he really should’ve been as far as the progress he should be at right now with his career,” Ferrell said. “I know he’s had some setbacks. I always pray hopefully he gets back to the level that he was. I just always looked up to him and his game.

“I know his career didn’t pan out the way a lot of people wanted it to be, but that’s the reason why I wear 99.”

Ferrell is a projected top 10 pick and one of three edge rushers, along with Ohio State’s Nick Bosa and Kentucky’s Josh Allen, who will fly off the board early. Ferrell, a redshirt junior, made it clear he hasn’t yet declared, but that decision will likely come soon after Monday’s game. If it does, the Raiders will certainly have their eye on Ferrell to possibly upgrade their anemic pass rush that was supposed to feature Mack and Irvin at defensive end but instead rolled out rookie Arden Key and 35-year-old Frostee Rucker (they combined for one sack this season).

Ferrell, like Smith, oozes with potential. He ranked sixth in the country this season with 11.5 sacks, and has 27 in his last three seasons. Ferrell has also amassed 49 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery for a touchdown and five passed defensed over that span. If he can stay on the right path off the field – all indications point that he can – he might just replicate what Smith could’ve been. E

Even as that “pass rusher” phrase clings to several teams atop the draft and to players like Ferrell, Bosa and Allen, the Clemson star wants to make sure you don’t restrict his repertoire.

“I’m not just a pass rusher. I rush the passer at a very, very high level, but I feel like my game overall is complete as a player. I feel like I stop the run very well, I play the pass very well and I feel like I can drop into coverage as well,” Ferrell said. ” … I feel that’s kind of what sets me apart, just how versatile I am. I’ve played against the best of the best and I’ve done it consistently at a high level.”

Key said the right things too after the Raiders drafted him in last year’s third round. He thought he would’ve been a top-five pick if not for his off-the-field issues at LSU. Yet he finished with only one sack – defensive coordinator Paul Guenther thinks he should’ve had around 10 – and the Raiders were left wanting far more even though Key shouldered a substantially greater load than coaches first intended for the rookie.

If Ferrell ends up a Raider at No. 4, he’ll likely put his hand in the ground opposite Key on Oakland’s 2019 starting defensive line. And if the Raiders don’t want their pass rush to be the laughingstock of the NFL again, they’d need this player who is actually a top-five pick to play like one.

“He’s got a great future. He’s a worker, he’s got skill, he’s long, he’s athletic, he’s got speed. He’s got instincts and he’s got some real natural talent,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “But he’s got character and work ethic and the fortitude to out-compete and fight and be a great leader. He’s got great humility to him. Those things all transition and he’ll be able to take to the NFL. He’ll be very, very prepared for what’s in front of him.”

Quinnen Williams, from expected bench role to nation’s best at his position

Williams didn’t even think he’d start this season given Alabama’s competition at defensive tackle. Not four months later he won the Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman on offense or defense in college football.

“Definitely no,” Williams said when asked if he could’ve predicted his rise this season. “I didn’t even think I was going to start in the beginning of this year. I was just working on coming from defensive end to nose guard and we got a lot of guys who could’ve had that position … a lot of guys who I had to outwork, a lot of guys on my own team who I had to push to get that position. I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know I was going to win the Outland.”

Now Williams is arguably the best defensive tackle in the draft, and he too might be a possibility at No. 4 if he’s still available and the Raiders are set on taking a player who can reach the quarterback. Even weighing around a hefty 295 pounds, Williams leans on his past experience on the outside to state his pass-rushing case.

“I played off the edge my whole life,” Williams said. “I played outside linebacker in high school. I played defensive end when I first got up here, so I love pass rushing. I love pass rushing off the edge. I love pass rushing in general. Moving inside, I was like, ‘Man, the moves gotta come quicker.’ On the edge, the moves come with the flow.”

Williams has eight sacks this season and 18 tackles for loss. In his first five games this season, he didn’t register a sack and tallied 18 tackles. In his last five regular season games, he totaled 6.5 sacks, including 2.5 in a 29-0 win over then-No. 3 LSU, and 33 tackles. He’s peaking at the right time, and his stock is skyrocketing because of it.

“Q is a unique individual that has the ability to play both inside and outside,” Alabama defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi said. ” … He’s a hard guy to block. He’s extremely disruptive wherever we put him and we might even do some different things with him in this game.”

Here’s Alabama DT Quinnen Williams on possibility of going No. 1. He said he didn’t even think he’d start this season. Could be target for Raiders at No. 4. pic.twitter.com/O1TqsNHZVL

The Raiders drafted two defensive tackles last year in Hurst and P.J. Hall. Veterans Justin Ellis and Johnathan Hankins also factored into the mix this season, Ellis the last four games upon returning from a foot injury suffered Week 1. Hankins will enter unrestricted free agency this offseason, and regardless of whether he stays or not, the Raiders shouldn’t shy away from Williams just because they’re already well-stocked at the position.

Williams might be a more capable pass rusher than any of them, though Hurst did flash potential in that department during his rookie season, and his addition to the defensive line would be a much-needed upgrade if he doesn’t go in the top three.

“I haven’t really even thought about the draft or the NFL,” Williams said. “I see it on Twitter and all this stuff like that, but I really don’t try to dig that much into it, think about it really, because I’m just focused on the national championship.”

Matt Schneidman joined the Bay Area News Group in September 2017 to cover the Oakland Raiders. He graduated from Syracuse University in Spring 2017 and has interned with The Buffalo News, the New York Post and USA TODAY.